My name is Youseph Tanha. I live in Juneau Alaska and am an author and a drummer for a local Celtic rock band. For Valentines Day this year my wife got me a beautiful blue and purple male Betta fish that we have named Betta Max.

Hey i'm a geek. Can you tell?

I thought this forum would be a good place to keep an active journal of my Betta. To hear suggestions and learn from other peoples experience. So please feel free to comment and suggest anything. I would love to hear what everyone has to say.

Beta Max was presented to me in the way-to-small-plastic-cup that PetCo sold him in.

(Sidenote: Juneau just got it's first PetCo that opened a couple of weeks ago)

My wife also got a very small aquarium for him to swim in. I really do not think this thing was even half-a-gallon. The clerk at PetCo told her that Betta Max would be happy in the undersized aquarium, so that is what my wife picked out for me along with some pellet food and some water treatment.

Now, I have been doing research on Betta fish for a few months now. Not sure where this intreats in Betta fish has come from, but I have been reading several websites (including this forum) and learning all that I can about Bettas because one day I was thinking of getting one. So I was happily surprised that my wife took the first step for me.

After I got over the shock of having Betta Max in my home my wife and I headed back to PetCo to exchange the undersized aquarium for something with a little more breathing room. I picked out a critter cage that was just under two gallons. (at the moment I am still looking around and researching getting something bigger) While I was picking out the aquarium, I asked my wife to pick out the gravel and some ordainments to put in the tank with Betta Max. She returned with a bag of red gravel for the bottom of the aquarium, a little plastic plant which claims to be Betta friendly, and a little ester egg island type of statue. The two of us also picked up some frozen blood worms to feed Betta Max once (maybe twice) a week. (anyone have any advice on how I should prepare these?)

When we arrived home I rinsed out the critter cage and rinsed off the gravel and ordainments in hot water before placing them in the tank an filling it up with water. I put in water treatment drops (per instructions).

Once the tank was setup I took Betta Max from his PetCo cup and put him in a zip log bag which I then placed in the aquarium to allow for the water temps to blend. After little less than an hour I let him loose.

Oh my god was he ever so happy to have a bigger home! The little guy just did circles around his new aquarium.

After another hour passed I feed him two food pellets which I believe he just ignored. The poor guy had a lot going on that day.

This morning before work, I checked on him and he was sill enjoying swimming the length of his new home.

Hi and welcome!! Congrats on your new little family member :)
The bloodworms, just soak them in a shot glass of lukewarm water and feed!! I use the end of a paintbrush because I don't want to touch them :/ Bowser loves them, Ludey won't touch them. Only feed a couple though. I gave Bowser quite the bloat by over-feeding!! Say, cut the block so you don't waste them and thaw a quarter of it. Feed him 3-4.
I don't know if it's warm where you are, I know the weather might be cold but I mean internal house temps but Betta Max might enjoy higher temperatures.. Like 24-30C. A cheap heater will do the trick! I got one of my pre-set heaters for 16$ and the adjustable one for 20$ at PetSmart.

The bloodworms, just soak them in a shot glass of lukewarm water and feed!! I use the end of a paintbrush because I don't want to touch them :/ Bowser loves them, Ludey won't touch them. Only feed a couple though. I gave Bowser quite the bloat by over-feeding!! Say, cut the block so you don't waste them and thaw a quarter of it. Feed him 3-4.

This is going to sound like a silly question. So you thaw out a quarter of the bloodworms and you feed your little pal a couple. What do you do with the remaining thawed out warms in your shot glass?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laki

I don't know if it's warm where you are, I know the weather might be cold but I mean internal house temps but Betta Max might enjoy higher temperatures.. Like 24-30C. A cheap heater will do the trick! I got one of my pre-set heaters for 16$ and the adjustable one for 20$ at PetSmart.

I am going to look into this. I really would like to get a bigger tank with a filter and a heater. I just have not seen something i am in love with yet. Today I will pick up a thermometer and see what tempt he is at. But i can say this. After being in the tank for over 10 hours when I checked him out this morning he was very active.

As to your bloodworm question.. with no other fish to feed them to, you'll have to throw them out. Feed the fish too much and it will get bloat and possibly die. Saving excess thawed out worms to feed later is going poison him. Just try and get as little as possible at once to thaw. You'll probably still wind up with more then enough.

As to your bloodworm question.. with no other fish to feed them to, you'll have to throw them out. Feed the fish too much and it will get bloat and possibly die. Saving excess thawed out worms to feed later is going poison him. Just try and get as little as possible at once to thaw. You'll probably still wind up with more then enough.

Yes, they are so gross and bound together that even if you cut a small corner of the block you'll still be throwing some out. I found with my own cutting, some of the worms were turning black in the freezer on the cut line :/ I have to throw away what I have left because I think they passed their freezer life.

The first one was a thermometer I picked up from a locally owned pet store.

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As you can see from the picture on the right room temp is doing a good job keeping the water warm for Betta Max. I was sure I would have to get a heater after I put the thermometer in.

The second item I picked up for Betta Max was one of those gravity water pump thingies? From everything I have been reading I will have to be replacing Betta Max's water a often and I thought having this item would make the job a whole lot easier.

I also picked up the lid from the Petco cup Betta Max came in.

So when I got home I found Betta Max still acting happy. Swimming back and forth as well as puffing up big time at his own reflection.

This leads me to my next question. Should I worry about him attacking his reflection? If I need to worry about this any suggestions on what I can do to kill the reflection? At least give him a brake from it?

The only other thing I did for Betta was I added a d2o to his tank. (one of the dice used in Dungeons & Dragons.) My wife says I am projecting my gaming desires on to Betta Max.

Here are some photos I took with my iPhone 4s this evening. I thought I would share with everyone.

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I wanted to get a hammock leaf or a floating log, but PetCo and the local pet store did not have any. I am going to see what I can find online.

Thanks Laki and ladayen for your help and advice. I am all ears if you or anyone else has any other ideas or suggestions for me.

So I transfered Betta Max to his new home on Valentines day (evening) and I put two food pellets in his tank. I did not see him eat them. Last night I gave him an additional two food pellets which he did not eat. So I added a couple of flaks of food. I also did not see him eat them.

Betta Max saw the food. Even bumped it with his nose, but just ignored it.

What does everyone think? Just new home jitters?

Tomorrow will be his third evening in his new home. I figure I should change out at least 25% of his water tomorrow.

Hi Youseph! I've been enjoying reading about Betta Max, and I have to say I Love that name!

When I first transferred my betta from his tiny home to a larger home he also did not eat for a few days. I wouldn't worry about it. Bettas can go a a few days without eating and be just fine. We now have a system. He knows when I lift his lid it's feeding time and he comes up to meet me at the edge of the tank. I always make sure he sees the food as I'm putting the pellets in, otherwise they will sink to the bottom.

I also feed mine Hikari Brine Shrimp in between regular feedings as a treat. The brine shrimp really make him happy.

Oh! I love that you have a 20d in your tank! I never thought of that. I have so many dice that I don't use, that is a great idea! And my betta loves his hammock, I highly advise getting one. They are inexpensive and the bettas really do use them.

Hi Youseph! I've been enjoying reading about Betta Max, and I have to say I Love that name!

Thank you very much!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlinkyInk

When I first transferred my betta from his tiny home to a larger home he also did not eat for a few days. I wouldn't worry about it. Bettas can go a a few days without eating and be just fine. We now have a system. He knows when I lift his lid it's feeding time and he comes up to meet me at the edge of the tank. I always make sure he sees the food as I'm putting the pellets in, otherwise they will sink to the bottom.

So an update on this. Last night after I got home from work I dropped to pellets of food in my tank so Betta Max could see them and he gobbled them right up. He acted like he wanted more, but I stopped with two.

This morning before I left for work I gave him another two and he ate them right up as well. Again, acting like he wanted more, I just reminded him that he had yet to contribute to rent and until he does he is only getting two pellets.

Because I have not read any consistant information on how much feed a Betta fish what do you (ALL OF YOU) recommend?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlinkyInk

I also feed mine Hikari Brine Shrimp in between regular feedings as a treat. The brine shrimp really make him happy.

I have read that Brine Shrimp is safer for Bettas. I have yet to ask my local pet store if they have any. I picked up some frozen Blood Warms which I plan to give him a couple during this holiday weekend.

What is your reasoning for going with the Brine Shrimp if i may ask?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SlinkyInk

Oh! I love that you have a 20d in your tank! I never thought of that. I have so many dice that I don't use, that is a great idea! And my betta loves his hammock, I highly advise getting one. They are inexpensive and the bettas really do use them.

I am a pretty big geek and play several table top role playing games with my friends on and almost weekly bases. I had some extra dice laying around that I know longer used and so I added them. I also have several Dungeons & Dragons miniatures, but I don't know how I feel about adding them to the tank. I don't know if the paint and the plastic is harmful to the fish but I have a couple of extra dragons that might look cool in the tank.

I already want a bigger tank, but I need to slow down and just let having Betta Max sink in a bit longer before I upgrade.

I have been going to the pet store almost daly to see if they have restocked on hammock leafs. So for they have not. I may just have to order it from Amazon.com which is not a big deal because living in Juneau Alaska people do 80% of their shopping online.

ADDED A CUP
Last night after Betta Max ate I put in a an old cup for him to hide in. It was funny watching him after I put the cup in. He started looking at it and swiming around it and I knew all he was thinking was "What The Hell Is This?" I figured he needed a place to hide if he wanted one.

REFLECTION
Last night and this morning he seems a lot less worried about his reflection. I think he kind of figured out he was getting mad at himself.